Methods and system for processing changes to existing purchase orders in an object-oriented order processing system

Abstract

In an order processing system, mechanisms and techniques receive a change to an existing order in the order processing system and generate a change order based on the existing order. The change order includes the change to the existing order. The system can then compare the change order to the existing order to generate change order result that indicates differences between a change order in the existing order. The system then provides the change order result to at least one recipient such that the recipient may distinguish the differences between a change order in the existing order. Since a change to an existing order can result in changes other than those specifically specified in the received change, the system of the invention allows a person making the change to be presented with the change order results that convey all of the changes that result to the existing order.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention generally relates to mechanisms and techniques for processing data in a computer based order processing system, and more particularly, to systems and techniques which manage changes made to orders in such systems.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]Conventional computer based order processing systems allow a person to interact with a computer system to place orders for items such as goods or services. Merchants of the items often provide access to such order processing systems over a computer network such as the Internet using a standard set of protocols such as those commonly referred to as the World Wide Web and the hypertext transport protocol (HTTP). For example, a customer of the merchant can, for example, operate web browser software to navigate to a web site that the merchant operates the computer network such as the Internet. The web site can provide an online order processing system to allow the customer to order items offered ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0088]As an example, while the aforementioned example embodiments of the change order 265 as shown in FIG. 4 include a single comparator object 270, other embodiments of the invention can access separate instantiations of the comparator object 270 from within each object that contains a change as a result of the receipt of the change 194 to the existing order 250. That is, while the aforementioned example embodiments have been explained with reference to the comparator object 270 included within, inherited by or referenced only once within the change order object 265, alternative embodiments of the invention can reference the comparator object 270 within each object (e.g., within a shipset object 252, a line item object 254, and individual attribute 256, 258, or any other individual object) that contains any change from its corresponding peer object within the existing order 250. In this manner, as the order comparator pro

Problems solved by technology

Conventional order processing systems such as those discussed above suffer from a variety of drawbacks.

In particular, in conventional order processing systems, if a customer desires to make a change to an order, the customer's ability to do so is limited by the state of the order within the order processing system at the time that the change is received.

For example, if fulfillment of the order has begun, typical conventional order processing systems do not allow changes to be made to an order.

This requirement creates inefficiency in the order fulfillment process and thus conventional order processing systems mandate that changes are not allowed to an order after a certain point (e.g., a cut off

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